She's a sweet kitty again!

So... Tipsy is back to her sweet self now that she is spayed!! YAY! I took her in to the vets on wednesday to get some bloodwork done (she has to have the pheno levels in her blood checked to make sure she is getting the correct dose). I am still waiting on the results.

I head to Roanoke this weekend with Heidi for Alumni Weekend. I am sharing a room with Heidi, Allison and Jane! And we have an adjacent room with Beth, Ian and baby Caitlyn! It should be a fun time! Mike is staying home with the kitties! I think he will do a good job giving Tipsy her medicine on time. I set an alarm clock in the kitchen to go off at 6:30 pm everyday. I will try and call him too.

Next Friday, Mike and I leave for Cincinnati. We are going to take Tipsy an Wheezie with us. Hopefully Tipsy will be ok in the car for that long. I am having some valium compounded into a suppository...just in case. and I am going to pick up some Bach's Rescue Remedy...to help keep her calm in the car.

I will let everyone know how the trip goes!
Shannon

Tipsy is recovering well!

Tipsy came home yesterday around dinner time and is recovering well from her surgery. I was orginally planning on locking her in the bathroom for a day or two... so she could have a nice place to rest, away from the other kitties. Well, she would have none of that!! Within about 30 minutes she made a huge mess... water and scoopable cat liter all over the bathroom floor! not a good combination. I let her out and she proceded to walk around for a few minutes, then she settled down on the bed and stayed there till the morning.

She is still on some pain killers, so I think that will keep her calm for another day or so! I will keep everyone posted on her progress.

Tipsy Gets Spayed Tomorrow!

Ok... So I am already getting super worried!! I drop Tipsy off tomorrow morning to get spayed. Good thing most of our kitties were already fixed when we adopted them... I don't think my nerves can handle too much of this!

Tipsy's skin is starting to look a little better. She went to the vet on monday. Dr. O thinks it is a food allergy. so we have switched foods... and she is now on an antibiotic. Mike has been practicing giving Tipsy her medicine, which is good since I will be out of town next weekend. I just hope that he can remember to do it at 6:30 am and pm on the dot! I guess I will set some alarms and try and call too!

well...time for lunch! I'm starving!

In Heat!! Yikes!

Ok, so Miss Tipsy's talking (or yowling) late at night is due to the fact that she is in heat! yeah us! I did a little research and put two and two together... and yup, surely enough, she is in heat! Her being in heat can explain a lot... not only the talking, but the very restless behavior that she has developed as well. It can also explain why she was so lovey-dovey last the first week that she showed up!

I have read that the hormonal ups and downs of going into heat can actually trigger seizures! There are some kitties out there that only have seizures when they are about to go into heat. So... she is definitely in need of getting spayed. But, we have to be really careful with that b/c epi-cats on phenobarbital can have difficults when under anesthesia (I joined an online group for people who have epileptic cats and have learned a lot!)

I have a spay appointment scheduled for next Thursday. However, Tipsy has developed two skin lesions... on one her neck and another on her ear. I am waiting to hear back from the vet about that.

Well... I hope that everyone has a great weekend! They are forcasting a chance of snow tonight! and to think it was almost 90 earlier this week! This weather is CRAZY!

A talkative kitty!

Boy... Miss Tipsy sure is a talkative kitty! I hope that she soon settles into our night-time routine! She kept Mike and I up for quite a while last night!

The rest of the gang has discovered the food and water, as well as the litter box, in our bathroom! and they sure do like the convience of it all!! I think almost all of them are eating out of that dish now!

I was doing a little more research on epilepsy and cats (or pets in general)... It seems like Mike and I should keep Tipsy on the anti-convulsant medicine for atleast 6 months. If she doesn't have any seizures between now and then, then we can gradually take her off of the meds to see how she does. They say you should take 1 -2 months to transition them off of the meds. That would be awesome if we can eventually do that! With all the side-effects that the phenobarbital can have (especially on the liver) I want to make sure that the medicine is truely needed.

Doing Much Better!

Miss Tipsy is doing much better since she has been put on the phenobarbital!! She hasn't had a seizure since last Tuesday afternoon! Her overall health seems to be doing much better too! We are still working on getting her to realize where to go when she has to potty. She is getting much better...but she likes to roam around the house "talking" to anyone who will listen as she looks for the potty. I usually have to divert her attention and either get her to follow me to one of the litter boxes or I carry her to one. I think that all this will improve with time, as she has only been using a litter box for just over a week! Oh yeah, you may have noticed I said "she likes to roam around the house..." yup, for the last few days she has had free run of the house!! Today is the first day that we are leaving her out while we are at work. We had previously locked her in our bedroom/bathroom. Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well! She is doing pretty good with the other cats. Gilbert and Lexi are a little annoyed that there is a new kitty in the house. But, when they hiss or growl she just goes right up to them and tries to sniff them. I think the fact that she doesn't run from Gilbert will help him get over his case of the grouchies!

I think that Mike and I might talk to the vet about seeing how she does off of the phenobarbital after about a month (once she is more healthy otherwise)... so we can definitely rule out poor nutrition or poisoning as the cause of her seizures. I will keep posting updates on Miss Tipsy's progress.